Fighting 'Misguided' Lawsuits, Chevron Shows It Can Play The Climate Change Blame Game Too

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Daniel Fisher

I am a writer and communications consultant and former senior editor with Forbes magazine.

Chevron is one of several energy companies facing climate change lawsuits in California and plans to file complaints against other energy companies if the cases advance. It already filed its first, against Norway-owned Statoil. (Photo by Jaap...

Chevron Corp. has filed a third-party complaint against Norway’s state-owned oil company Statoil, seeking to include it in lawsuits by California cities and counties over global warming.

Chevron describes the lawsuits as a “misguided attempt to blame Chevron’s production and promotion of fossil fuels for global climate change” but says if it’s liable for damages, then Statoil is too. The suits by eight counties and cities - including San Francisco, Oakland and San Mateo - name most but not all of the world’s leading oil and gas producers.

“Statoil, like Chevron and each of the other Defendants in these actions, has engaged, and continues to engage, directly and through its agents in the United States, in the production and promotion of `massive quantities of fossil fuels,’” Chevron said in the Dec. 14 complaint. Statoil was not immediately available for comment.

Chevron, in a prepared statement, said the lawsuits against it are "factually and legally meritless." It said it filed the complaint against Statoil because the Norwegian company was originally included as a defendant in some suits.

Hinting at a procedural reason to bring Statoil back in, the company said: "Statoil’s presence indicates the global nature of the issues and the necessity of the federal courts to properly maintain jurisdiction over the lawsuits."

Chevron has a reputation for deploying aggressive and innovative litigation strategies, such asthe scorched-earth campaignit mounted against attorney and human-rights activist Steven Donziger, who was sanctioned for improper tactics in his multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the oil company over pollution in the Ecuadorean jungle. In that case, Chevron not only went after Donziger but his lawyers at the politically connected Washington firm Patton Boggs, as well as outside companies that funded the litigation.

Co-defendants in the California lawsuits include ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and the formerly state-owned oil companies Total SA in France and ENI in Italy. If Chevron and the other defendants are found liable, it would implicate others around the world, Chevron says.